Print this pageHands-On Experience for Earth Science Teachers at the Outcrop
ORLOWSKI, WAYNE C.
The Katy Independent School District (KISD) in Katy, Texas, initiated an annual program in 1989 to increase the quality of instruction and student learning in earth science by having teaching staff gain geological experience on field trips. Teaching with an enhanced understanding and enthusiasm for earth science, brought on by first-hand experience at the outcrop, is infectious in the classroom and serves to motivate teachers and students alike. A secondary aim of the trip includes a chance for teachers to collect geologic samples for classrooms, partially offsetting trip cost. Teachers also return to KISD classrooms with guidebooks, maps, satellite images, pictures, souvenirs and most importantly, stories about the field. Aside from the geologic knowledge gained on the trip, it is this personalization of science learning that helps trip participants improve earth science instruction.
The goals of the field trips are as follows: learn to read rocks, develop 4-D thinking skills, understand geology as a process, think plate tectonics, and experience science as an interesting and fun event.
Since 1991, Conoco has provided financial support to cover the travel and material cost of the field trips. Eisenhower Funds from the Federal Government cover logistical costs paid by the KISD. Each trip purposely takes place during the school year so that students witness the enthusiasm of the teacher as they participate in pre-trip work sessions, attend the field trip, and return to the classroom with stories and pictures. The KISD group has visited the Llano Uplift, the Arbuckle Mountains, the Permian Reef complex, Death Valley and Owens Valley, the Rio Grande Rift, and the porphyry copper mining district in SW Arizona. In 1997, the group will traverse the southern Appalachian Mountains.